HodgePodge: Podge Christmas is giving

By Charlie Hodge.

I’m always over the top with joy as the calendar flips into December. No one loves the festive season more than I. Tez is a close second however my joy does not diminish one iota during the month. In fact, I extend the love and joy of Christmas beginning November 13 until late January.

One of the reasons I love Christmas so much is because there are so many reasons I love Christmas I cannot remember them all. The overall joy people show during the season adds to the allure, compounded by people caught up in giving spirit. Christmas is mostly about giving. (Of course baking, singing carols, pretty lights… are pretty joyful as well).

All of us love to receive presents however only at Christmas do we as a society plunge ourselves into a giving frenzy. What a wonderful scenario.

Recently I have learned to recycle personal treasures to family and friends such as antiques, photos… stuff I’ve hung on to that means something to the targeted recipient.

Christmas is also about family and children and so I try and surround myself with both if I can. There is nothing more fun than watching a youngster hanging out around a Christmas tree.

My love of Christmas stems from childhood memories around grandpa’s house, or that at Christmas my dad was a kind, safe man to be around.

I am a firm believer we often create our own energy and dictate the happiness in our life by simply being joyful and thankful for what we have.

Some 30 years ago I started a tradition with this column of crafting a Charlie’s Angels Christmas List. Many readers are familiar with it. All of us have amazing people in our life when we step back and think about it. Some of those people are in our lives daily, some appear  perhaps only once and are gone again, however their impact is/was profound. Like angels.

Each year at this festive season I list off those people who for one reason or another have been angels in my life. They have gone above and beyond to help me or someone else. The act of kindness or assistance may seem trivial to them or others but it is impactful to others.

For a few years I simply listed off only my angels in the Charlie’s Angels Christmas list, however 26 years ago I started asking readers to send me names of their angels and I print those angels names over the few weeks around Christmas. So I am asking you to do so. Here is a sample of what I ask you to send.

I have four angels to start: Jim Krahn, Curtis Tulman, Jan Johnson, and Joe Mercer. Curtis and Jim have been brothers by choice for decades now but in the past few years have been solid rocks of support.  Both men have spent countless hours helping me with chores or tasks around my home and have also been my source of fun and escapes such as fishing or simply conversations and chuckles. They have done so without making me feel like a burden though they do all the work. Joe I hardly know, we have spent little time together having met a few years back through a mutual friend. Joe’s heart is gold and the help he has given Tez and I, some of it quietly in the background (but we know it was you) has simply made a huge difference.

Jan Johnson is an angel to many as she runs everything that goes on for Mayor and Council at City Hall. Jan often goes way above and beyond to make sure we are looked after and has helped me so much words are not enough.

Blessings to all of you.

Readers please email me the name or names of angels in your world and why and send it to charliehodge333@gmail.com. Don’t delay though as I only have so much space and time (as we all do – lol). in the  Capital News and Gonzo Okanagan. Dust off your typing fingers and send me your angels asap. First in get printed.